Telegraph-relay.



No. 734,452. PATENTED JULY 21, 1903.

J1 EAHGLAY.

TELEGRAPH RELAY. APBLIQATJIQE r-rnnn n12. 24, 1903.

WITNESSE 11v VENTOI? ,2 I c. ,e

ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES Patented July 21, 1903.

JOHN C. BARCLAY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TELEGRAPH-RELAY.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 734,452, dated July 21, 1903.

Application filed March 24, 1903. Serial No. 149,270. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN .C. BARCLAY, a citizen ofthe United States,residingat NewYork, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Telegraph-Relays; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in telegraph instruments, and more particularly to telegraph relays'and sounders, and it consists in novel means for limiting the motion of the magnets and in a novel location and arrangement of the armature with respect to the poles of its magnet.

The objects of my invention are to prevent breakage of the armatures, and particularly of the armature-trunnions,oftelegraph-relays and similar instruments and to increase the sensitiveness of such instruments.

I will now proceed to describe my invention with reference to the accompanying drawings and will then point out the novel features in claims.

In the said drawings, Figure 1 shows a side elevation of a telegraph-relay constructed in accordance with my invention; and Fig. 2 shows a front view of the magnets, illustrating the position of the trunnion-bracket with respect to said magnets.

In the use of relays and similar instruments having magnets Which are movable toward and away from their armatures much trouble has been experienced from breakage of the armature or its pivots while the instrument is being adjusted. The magnets of such instruments are usually provided with an adjusting-screw working through an orifice in a post or other support secured to the base: of the instrument, and by means of a knurled to the front stop, and it occasionally happens in practice that the magnet is forced against because since the fact of the breakage is not always discovered immediately and since the instrument when so broken may be incapable of responding to a call the operator often remains ignorant of the fact that attempts are being made to call him. Asimilar difficulty is experienced when instead of the spring for advancing the magnet a second knurled head or nut is used, as the operator will sometimes force the magnet against the armature and break the latter. To overcome this Ohjection, I provide telegraph relays, sounders, and the like having adjustable magnets with a stop to limit the motion of the magnet toward its armature. Such stop may conveniently be the trunnion-bracket itself, as this part of the instrument has suflicient strength and solidity for the purpose.

The adjustmentof atelegraph-relay is most delicate when the armature when in contact with its front stop is in close proximity to but not in contact with the poles of the magnet and is vertical. If by chance the adjustment of the steps is such as to permit the armature to pass beyond the vertical position, the sensitiveness of the instrument decreases very greatly, since the retractile spring in drawing the armature away from its magnet must first raise the armature to the vertical position before it will fall back. It is often desirable that the adjustment of a relay shall be so delicate that it will operate without any tension on the retractile spring whatever, the

mere weight of the spring being sufiicient to Withdraw the armature When the magnet is deenergized. Since relays have not in the past been provided with stops for their magnets and there has been no definite limit to the travel of the magnet, it has been quite easy for an operator to carelessly adjust the armature-stops so that the armature in its a relay which, except for the improvement hereinafter noted, is the standard Western Unionmain-linerelay. Theinstrumentcomprises the usual wooden base 1, magnet 2,

adjusting-post 3, adjusting-screw t, secured to the rear yoke of the magnet, adjustingspringo, and knurled head or nut 6 on the screw. Studs 7, projecting upward from the base 1, support the front portion of the magnet, while permitting the same to be moved forward and backward. trunnions pivoting it to the trunnion-bracket 9. The uprising portions 10 of this bracket by which the armature is supported are set close enough together, so that they will engage the heads of the magnet 2 and limit the motion of the magnet.

The relay is provided with the usual adjustable front and back stops 11 and 12, respectively. As shown in Fig. 1, the pivotal point of the armature 8 is such that when the magnet 2 is resting against its stops and the armature is resting against its front contactstop said armature may be vertical and in close proximity to but not in contact with the poles 13 of the magnet. This insures the maximum of delicacy, since with the armature in such position the very slightest pull of the retractile spring 14-a pull due, perhaps, solely to the weight of that spring-is sufiicient to withdraw the armature when the magnet is denergized.

The relay is adjusted in the ordinary way, which is well known and requires no description.

It is obvious that various forms of stop may be used for the magnet and that the stop The armature 8 hasv employed is not necessarily the trunnionbracket, and I do not limit myself to the use of the trunnion-bracket as a stop or to the particular form and construction of trunnionbracket illustrated and described.

In the following claims the term relay is used in a generic sense to include other electrical instruments-such as sounders, printers, and the liketo which my invention may be applied.

That I claim is- 1. In a relay, the combination with a magnet, an armature, and adjusting means for moving the magnet toward and from its armature, of a trunnion-bracket for said armature to which the latter is pivoted, located in the path of the magnet, and forming a stop to limit the motion of the magnet toward its armature.

2. In a relay, the combination with a horizontally-movable magnet, an armature, a support for said armature to which the latter is pivoted at the bottom, and adjusting means for moving said magnet toward and from its armature, of a stop for said magnet and stops for the armature, the latter pivoted in such relation to the magnet and the stop therefor that when the armature is vertical and the magnet is against its stop said armature is in proximity to, but not in contact with, the magnet-poles.

In testimony whereof I affix my signaturein the presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN C. BARCLAY.

Witnesses:

HARRY M. :MARBLE, G. R. BENJAMIN. 

